Freestyle Results
Team Scores

BOZEMAN, Mont. – St. Scholastica skiers Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly HS) and Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Minnesota-Twin Cities)) put together a spectacular 10km freestyle race at the NCAA Skiing Championships on Wednesday, placing 15th and 16th, respectively, at the Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center.

Schommer was the 13th skier to start out of 39 in the field and after the first time around he was leading, even though there were some established skiers that started in front of him. When Schommer ended his run he was still in first place with a time of 26:39.8. It wasn't until the 19th skier came across in Vegard Kjoelhamar of Colorado University that Schommer lost the lead and would eventually end up 15th.

Head coach Chad Salmela knew the best skiers in the field started late, but after Kjoelhamar came across only five seconds ahead of Schommer, Salmela knew it would be a good day.

“Everybody was taking splits and were really praising Paul and how well he was doing, but nobody was talking about Jeremy,” described Salmela. “However after taking Jeremy's split he was only five seconds off of Paul, so I told everyone Jeremy was going to run a good one as well.”

Hecker was the 23rd skier out of the gate and was passed by Michael Schallinger from the host school, Montana State University, with one circuit to go. Schallinger was the next starter behind Hecker and he ended up placing fourth overall. Even with being passed, Hecker put up a good time at 26:43.2, only four second behind Hecker to place 16th.

Schommer & Hecker were 30 seconds outside the top 10 and All-American status and a minute outside of second, in which Salmela reiterated that CSS skiers have finished a minute back in regional championships, so that just shows how good of a day it was for Saints skiing.

Fellow Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) skier Erik Soderman of Northern Michigan University ended up taking home the Freestyle National Championship, finishing 25 seconds ahead of the second place finisher with a time of 25:20.2.

Salmela can take a little pride in the championship for Soderman as he gave the Northern Michigan coaching staff some waxing tips for their skis. A total of five CCSA skiers placed in the top 22.

Soderman is first NCAA Champion from the CCSA since 2008 when Marius Korthauer of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks won the 20km classic on this same course.

The Saints finished with 49 points on day one, good enough for 11th overall out of 19 schools. However, the overall scores also include women's scores from earlier in the day and eventually alpine scores. When just looking at the men's totals, the Saints were eighth overall out 17 teams and the top Division III program, edging Middlebury (Vt.) by seven points.

“I thought our preparation was perfect,” stated Salmela. “Our plan to go hard as soon as we got to altitude worked and we finished it off with great skis.”

Hecker and Schommer will have one more racing opportunity at the NCAA Skiing Championships when the 20km classic race takes place on Friday morning at 9 a.m. Mountain Time and 10 a.m. local time. Watch live on NCAA.com.